In a controlled environment, such as within a prison or jail facility, controlling access, information, interaction, and/or transactions is often of particular interest. In a prison facility in particular, safety and security is of paramount importance and, therefore, the number one job of the personnel thereof is to effectively implement controls with respect to the residents (inmates) thereof. However, such controlled environments often provide an environment much like a small city in which a number of individuals work and live, thus requiring various goods and/or services associated with civilized society. Accordingly, various exchanges of information, money, goods, etcetera may be performed in association with individuals of a controlled environment, both within the controlled environment and external thereto. For example, an inmate residing in a prison facility may be allowed to place phone calls to friends and family outside of the prison facility. Likewise, an inmate may be allowed to purchase commissary items, such as through use of a prepaid account funded by friends and family, such as when visiting the prison facility or by mailing checks or money orders on behalf of an inmate. An inmate may also be provided medical services, such as dispensing of prescription medications.
Administering the aforementioned exchanges of information, money, goods, etcetera typically requires the time and efforts of the staff of the controlled environment facility and/or individuals associated with various service providers thereto. For example, prison and/or commissary personnel may be required to accept payments directly from visitors or receive mail including payments, identify the individual resident for which the funds are intended, access an account associated with the individual resident, and increment the balance thereof. Each such task requires time away from prison personnel's primary tasks associated with the operation of the controlled environment facility and/or increases the costs associated with a service provider serving that population. Moreover, such tasks as accomplished today are typically largely paper based and require appreciable manual processing, thereby further aggravating the directing of personnel's attention away from tasks more primary to the operation of the controlled environment facility and further adding to the costs. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical prior art commissary process flow. In addition to issues with respect to taking time and attention away from tasks of primary importance, the aforementioned exchanges may present increased safety and other issues. For example, increased contact between prison personnel and inmates can increase the danger to the prison personnel, thus interaction associated with collection of monies by prison personnel for deposit in inmate accounts can expose such personnel to claims of theft of such monies. Further, in an incarceration environment, using prison or jail personnel to retrieve account balances, and the like, is time consuming for these personnel taking time away from their primary duties and causing distractions which can present a security risk. Accordingly, inefficiencies exist with respect to the businesses and individuals conducting such exchanges associated with controlled environment facilities.
Individuals external to a controlled environment facility, which conduct exchanges therewith are often less than satisfied with the experience. For example, depositing monies on behalf of a friend or family residing within a controlled environment facility typically requires delivering such monies directly to the controlled environment facility or sending checks or money orders by mail, leaving little flexibility with respect to the forms and timing of payment. Additionally, the sending party may not be provided with any confirmation of the monies received. Furthermore, it is typically somewhat impractical for a resident of a controlled environment facility to request account deposits from third parties, as the resident's ability to communicate with parties outside of the facility are typically restricted.